How admin assistants can prep for the holidays

Employment News

Jan 4, 2018

Attention all admin assistants–are you right in the middle of a flurry of never-ending holiday prep plans that is keeping you too stressed and frantic to enjoy the season? Or perhaps you’re putting off your holiday prep because it all seems too overwhelming and the mere thought of everything you have piling up on your plate is creating dizzying levels of anxiety and stress?

If either of these scenarios sounds like you, stop what you’re doing and take a deep breath! Although the holidays can be especially challenging for admin assistants, who are no strangers to juggling the diverse needs and demands of others on top of their own, there are strategies for effectively getting through the holiday season while minimizing added stress and overexertion.

Admin assistants–consider the following your helpful preparation and planning guide for making it through the holiday season unscathed!

Prep early.

Admin assistants are typically masters at getting an early handle on things that need to be done around the office, and they recognize the value of doing as much advanced preparation as possible to make sure that projects stay on track, no details are left unaddressed, and everything sticks according to plan.

Prepping for the holidays should be no different–we’re all aware of how quickly the holidays seem to sneak up on us each year, and once they arrive it gets much tougher to get things done amidst the flurry of vacations and obligations that seem to come from every direction. Combat the “holiday slowdown” by planning for all the things that need to be done as early as possible in the year. The more you can get done early on, the better off you’ll be when the “blizzard” of holiday activities hits.

Get organized.

One of the keys to being successful as an admin assistant is staying organized. In today’s hectic work world, a disorganized or scatterbrained admin does not keep their head above water–or their jobs–for very long, so the successful admin already possesses these crucial skills. Be sure to put them to good use when preparing for the holidays. A well-organized holiday checklist that includes all necessary activities and projects–with details on who is responsible for doing what–can really be an admin’s best friend when trying to get through the season. A comprehensive and well-maintained checklist will help you keep track of everything that needs to be done, all in one place.

Balance time for professional and personal planning.

Because admins are typically excellent planners by nature, they often find themselves stuck between two worlds during the holiday season–planning for everything that has to be done at work and planning for everything that has to be done in their personal lives. Don’t let your professional and personal lives collide while holiday planning, and don’t let one eclipse the other. Any admin worth their desk can strike a healthy work-life balance during the holiday season and effectively plan for both appropriately–keep the work planning at work and keep your personal planning out of the office.

Don’t recreate the wheel.

Admins usually have an array of helpful systems and processes in place that that they can deploy for whatever project arises–consider “holiday planning” as one major project, and use your holiday planning checklist from last year as the foundation for this year’s plans, and continue this tradition for each new holiday season. Obviously, some updating and tweaking will need to be done each year, but hopefully this will cover you for the bulk of the planning activities and will save you some time vs. starting a new checklist from scratch each year!

There you have it admins–your helpful strategies for successful holiday planning. Use this advice to ensure that your preparation for this upcoming season is hassle free. Happy holidays!